Magnificat anima mea Dominum — the joy of Advent

Magnificat anima mea Dominum, et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo salvatore meo — My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

During Advent, in both East and West, this great prophetic hymn of Mary is read in the churches. Whether Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, or Protestant, Mary’s hymn has become part of what it means to consider the Christmas season. Years ago there were even some charismatic songs that used the Magnificat.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior;
For He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaiden.
For behold, from this day all generations will call me blessed.
For the Mighty One has done great things to me, and holy is His name;
And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.

It is both the cry of an adolescent whom no one has believed up until this point, as well as the prophetic statement of the Holy Spirit that the true King is come upon the Earth and that great thrones shall be overthrown. Both are true. When Mary sees Elizabeth, Mary is but a young pregnant adolescent who has been sent away by her parents to her cousin, safely far away in the hill country. Her betrothed has rejected her and the angel has yet to come and talk to him. Mary knows the truth, but it appears that no one else knows and that no one will believe her. And then comes that wonderful moment when Elizabeth sees her and shouts out:

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Yes, “Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus!” Elizabeth and Mary both become prophets for a time. The one prophetically proclaims that the Lord has come; the second replies that his ministry shall be of casting down the powerful and exalting the lowly and the hungry. He has not forgotten his promises, but has come to fulfill them, “as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.

In Advent we look back to the First Coming and forward to the Second Coming. There shall again come the day when he shall finish fulfilling the Magnificat. It is not surprising that Mary’s hymn has become a great hymn of the Church.